After The Fall
by Doc Swiss
Summary: [Heavy Volume 3 Chapter 6 Spoilers] Cinder's plan is moving forward successfully, but at what cost? A One-Shot set after Chapter 6.


"C'mon Merc, let's get you back to the dorm," a dark skinned girl with mint green hair said to a silvery-grey haired boy on crutches. His long, black and grey pants had a leg rolled up to accommodate a long cast almost covered in messages from well-wishers. The green haired girl glanced down at the cast. "Guess someone was popular."

"Yeah, turns out getting your leg broken in front of an audience gets you a lot of sympathy. Still, definitely not doing that again," Mercury said as he hobbled down the hall, putting on a brave face for the people the pair passed.

"Look, I'm sorry about messing it up, I…"

"Just… save it Emerald. I heard you the first two times." Mercury sighed. "Besides, for once I got some peace, quiet and time without Cinder breathing down. Gave me time to think about stuff."

"You, thinking? I'll alert the presses," Emerald retorted.

"Might be hard to believe, but I'm being serious. I know we're not the best of friends but just try and hear me out, alright?" Mercury stopped and lowered his voice. "I'm… having second thoughts about the plan," he said nervously Anger flared in Emerald's red eyes.

"What?! All this work and you're just going to leave because you got hurt?"

"No, no I'm not leaving, I'm just… What if she asks for more? What if she just expects more? I'm gonna be useless for who knows how long, there's no way I'd meet those expectations. She probably doesn't even care about us beyond whether we can complete her plan. I mean, even Neo visited me while I was in the infirmary and she's pretty much a psychopath. How long until I'm just thrown under the bus, no thank you, no warnings, just… dead?" Mercury let out a long breath. "How long until she does that to you?" Emerald was lost for words. Mercury's tirade was one of the few things she had no reply to. "I'm too damn tired for this. I'm crawling into bed 'til I wake up in concrete shoes in the harbour." He began to hobble off towards the dorms.

"Wait, Merc I… she wouldn't abandon us. We're too important!" An unsure Emerald called out.

"If we were, she would've told me what I accomplished. I wouldn't have heard it from Blondie's teammates first," Mercury rebutted, glaring at Emerald.

"They… what?"

"They were the first people that visited me, they told me what happened to her, bought all kinds of 'get well' gifts and Red literally cried as she apologized to me over and over, and I'm the reason her sister's Remnant's Most Hated. Can't help but feel like I'm in the wrong here," Mercury said in a dark tone.

"But she broke your leg! She's definitely the one in the wrong, how could you possibly blame yourself?"

"Well, there was the part where I threatened to kill her, and she definitely saw me try to kill her, although that one I can pin on you. So congrats, we made the entire world hate some kid, pretty much ruined everything her little sister had going for her, and also my leg, and we'll cause a bunch of Grimm attacks. There's definitely no way this'll backfire on us," Mercury dryly quipped, before letting out a defeated sigh. "What're the chances I can fess up and get protective custody or whatever it's called?"

"Mercury, you know what'll happen if you try that," Emerald warned.

"Yeah, but my leg's ruined for I don't know how long. You know how important that is to me? And it'll be even worse when Grimm show up and all I can do is hobble about, or when Cinder realises I can't do anything useful any time soon. At least those robocops won't kill me for being useless," Mercury spat before he stormed off as much as his crutches would allow. "Feel free to talk to me when you're done with the whole 'unthinking minion' thing," he called out over his shoulder as he disappeared around a corner, leaving Emerald alone with her thoughts.

' _Mercury can't be right,_ ' she immediately thought. ' _He just needs time to cool off. I probably need to cool off too._ ' Emerald took a series of deep breaths as she followed the halls to some roof access stairs, only to find it propped open by a fairly large rock. She gingerly opened it and peeked out. She found a familiar figure, one obscured by a long red hooded cloak and the night's darkness, sitting on the edge of the roof. It was dead silent up there, not even the wind made a sound. Every logical part of Emerald told her to turn around and leave, but some unknown part of her kept her there, forcing her to look at the curled up girl in front of her. She knew she was making the wrong choice, but she still decided to creep through the door and across the rooftop, trying not to make a sound. When she was almost right next to the girl in red, she took in a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"Hey, Ruby, you doing okay?" Emerald asked softly. She saw the girl shake her head. "Can I sit with you?" The girl nodded and Emerald carefully placed herself on the edge of the building next to the red and black clad girl. She could see that Ruby's wide silver eyes were red with exhaustion and evidence of tears, even if she was not crying at that moment. The sight caused Emerald to be at yet another loss for words. As she tried to search for the right words, she heard Ruby meekly speak.

"I'm sorry Emerald. I'm so sorry." Ruby sounded defeated and almost lifeless as she spoke. "I failed Yang as a leader and a sister, and she hurt your friend. I don't know what's gotten into her, but I shouldn't have let it happen."

"It… It's okay Ruby," Emerald cautiously replied.

"It's not, and I don't know if it ever will be." Ruby pulled the cloak tighter around her body, cocooning her in red fabric. "I've told you about Crescent Rose, right?" Emerald raised a confused eyebrow.

"Your weapon?" Ruby nodded.

"Huntsmen have close connections with their weapons, as close as their teammates, and Mercury basically had his weapon destroyed. That's a type of pain that you can't see, but you know it's there. I know he put on a brave face for us when we visited him, but I've seen that pain before and I know I'll never be able to make it right, and it hurts me seeing someone like that and knowing it's partially my fault," Ruby explained morosely. Emerald felt almost overwhelmed by a series of emotions. Guilt. Sympathy. Regret. Emerald shifted uncomfortably on the ledge.

"I'm sorry about your sister," she said softly, trying not to look Ruby in the eyes.

"You don't hate her?" Ruby asked as she kept her head down.

"I did. But now… I don't know if I can. Maybe I'm just too worn out to manage it." Emerald sighed.

"I get that. I think I'm the same, except it's more, I don't know. I know it's not hate. I could never hate her, even with what she did. I just, I don't know what to do Emerald," Ruby pleaded. "I think I'm gonna try sleep. Maybe I'll get that right." Ruby shuffled away from the ledge and heaved herself to her feet.

"Sleep well." Emerald dropped her voice to a low murmur. "I'm sorry." Emerald hung her head and sat in silence, stewing in her sea of emotions. ' _Damn it, Mercury was right. We're in the wrong, and there's no denying it now. Ruby's supposed to be one of our biggest enemies and I can't even hate her, or even Yang, and she broke Mercury's leg._ ' Emerald reached into the pocket of her white pants and pulled out her Scroll. She flicked her finger across the touch screen to pull up an extensive list of incredibly powerful contacts that she was plotting against only an hour ago. Her finger hovered over the screen for a moment before scrolling to a second list of personal contacts. There was a single name on the list. Mercury Black. ' _I guess he's getting his wish. Let's just hope it doesn't get us killed._ '


End file.
